Today is Day 3 of Induction for me....and so far so good. Already in ketosis according to the ketostiks! Today I've had a bit of a headache though....but I hear it will pass. My biggest question of all is about calories.....do we REALLY not have to worry about our caloric intake as long as our carbs are 20 or under? If I do the calories at 10X my body weight I will only be getting 1100 calories...and I can lose weight on any plan with calories at that level! I know it doesn't sound like I need to lose much (10 lbs) but I'm extremely small boned....right now my clothes are all tight...I'm what's known as a skinny fat person I guess. Anyway...any advice about the calorie issue would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi Redpaint:

Congratulations on starting lc'ng and welcome to this Forum.

It is true you don't have to count calories and I certainly wouldn't worry about it in Induction. This is a two week period to change your way of eating (WOE) and it is not really about weight loss. That is an added bonus. Dr. Atkins tell you to eat ENOUGH so as not to have any hunger pangs but not to overeat (stuffing yourself). If you were on a regular diet at 1100 calories I guarantee you that you would have hunger pangs. This WOE satisfies you.

I have just finished 10 weeks of this and yesterday I got my blood results back and my cholesterol went down 17 points, my triglycerides went down 100 points, my HDL (good cholesterol) went UP 7 points and my LDL (bad cholesterol) went DOWN 10 points. That's what this WOE is about.

Good luck to you...you will lose that 10 pounds in no time...but the important thing is if you want to keep it off you will have to continue low carbing to reap all the benefits it will give you.

Rose

I agree with Rose, don't worry about the calories. Atkins is about getting well and getting that chemistry in balance. I've been doing this only 3 weeks but I feel great.

I was getting headaches too during induction and then someone suggested I increase my intake of water. Another person told me it was a reaction to withdrawing from carbs that only lasts for a few days. Whatever the reason, I went ahead and increased the water and within two days the headaches stopped. So it could have been a result of more water or more time without carbs. Who knows, but it sure was nice when they were gone.